Wrench for automobile hub caps



. Aug. 16, 1932. w. A. BISHMAN ET AL WRENCH FOR AUTOMOBILE HUB CAPS L6 zB /7a, 5 /7 Filed March 20. 1929 F //a, g

Patented Aug. 16, 1932 UNITED STATES PA EN- 5'; F'm

' warren A. resume Ann nAn'oLn e. r.mn.'or nmmihroms, munso'rn wnmvcn' Eon AUTOMOBILE 1m ears Application-filed March 20, 1929. Seriallio: 348,579..

: This invention relates to wrenches andespecially to wrenches for removing the hub caps of automobiles although, of course, capa 7 le'of other use: a At the present time a Wide-variety of distinctive hub caps are employed on the many diflerentautomobiles, commercially sold. These hub caps are provided with various different engagement means by which they may be removed from the wheel. Many of the newer models of automobiles, employ hub caps having flanges of relatively wide diameter and provided with nuts disposed inwardly of said flanges. e

It is an object ofour invention to provide a simple, compact wrench which will have practically universal application to hub caps on motor vehicles sold at this time, and which is adjustable where anexternal' contracting wrench is required and also where an internal expandlng wrench 1s required.

' A further object of our invention is to provide a universal hub cap wrench which will of: Flg. 7

aflord adequate leverage for removing-hub caps, which may be quickly and easily ap plied and adjusted and which makes provision for the wide flanges of many of the hub caps now in use without requiring a mechanic to'work within close and objectionable 'prox imity to the wheel. I

It is a more specific object to provide a wrenchhaving a pair of rectilinearly adjustablejaw heads each-head carrying several cooperating elements, and simple means for positively varying the relative position of said 1' aw heads in either direction whereby some of the cooperating members of the two jaws may be used for external contracting purposes and others used for internal expansion purposes.

These and other objects and-advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts of a flanged hub cap;

d 1 I Fig.4 is a longitudinal section taken Fig. 5 is a cross section tagonal nut; 1

of our invention showing two of the cooperating members applied to an octagonal nut Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same Fig.3 is, an end elevation of the same at'the end on. which the'adjusting sleeve is: mounton '1 the line of Fig. 1;

taken on the line ,55 of Fig. 1 showing thelapplica'ti'on of two of the cooperating jaw elements with an oc- Fig. 6 is asimilar view showing the'appliu cation of two of the-other cooperating} jaw members with'zahexagonal nut;

Fig. 7 'is a plan view with some portions broken away, showingthe application of two of the external expanding cooperating j aw elements:

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 88 Fig. '9 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing 70 the application of two other cooperating jaw membersyand "f I Fig. 10 isa :cross section taken on the line 10-10 of Fig.9. i p 8 The embodiment of the invention illus- '75 trated in the drawing comprises a pair of co- "operating jaw heads, one a relatively fixed member, indicated as an entirety by the letter A and the other a relatively movable member indicated as an entirety by the letter B. Jaw 80 head A has a straight handle portion"'11-, of

preferably polygonal cross section and a forked-inner portion comprising two widely spaced contracting jaw elements 12 and 13 respectively. These elements extend outwardly 86 from handle member 11 and then are turned substantially parallel with the axis of handle 11. Member 12 terminates in an external V-shaped clamping edge 12a angulated at 45 to exactly fit octagonal nuts of difi'erentsizes.

Element 13 is extended in symmetrical manner with element 12 but terminates in an angular clamping edge 13a angulated at to engage hexagonal nuts. Head B has inwardly extendedspacedj aw elements 12 and 13 formed similar to elements 12 and 13 respectively of head A and provided with angular clamping edges 12a and 13a adapted to cooperate with the edges 12a and 13a respectively of jaw head A and disposed diametrically opposite therefrom. Head A carries a central inward projectionv 14 axially alinedwith handle 11 and this projection carries on opposite faces thereof an expanding clamping element 15- and an engagement pin 16. As shown, the engagement pin is in the form of a set screw having threaded connection with theprojection 14 and projecting a suflicient distance from said projecting portion to engage a socket orv recess. The elements 15 and 16 project radially from the axis of handle member 11111; an angle of 90 from elements 12 and 13. Head B carries an inwardly extending projection 14 similar to the projection 14' of head A and said projection is provided with laterally projectingclamping and engagement elements 15 and 16 beingoppositely disposed to the-cooperating elements 15 and 16 of head A. It will be noticed that the elements 15 have outer angular engagement surfaces 15a adapted to precisely engage a-ninternal hexagonal 'nut,'as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, but capable of efficiently engaging octagonal or other internal nuts. 7 p w Handle portion 11 of head A has a-longi- -tudinal passage of substantially oblong cross section extending therethrough, in which a bar or shank 17 is non-rotatably disposed.

"B ar 17 is rigidly secured to j aw head A'by any suitable means, such as by means of the set screw element 16, which acts as one of the cooperating engagement elements of the wrench Bar 17 projects a considerable distance beyond the inwardly projecting portion '14; of head A and has a heavy external thread "17a at its outer portion. A Head B is provided with a bore of substantially oblong cross section to non-rotatably accommodate the proecting portion of bar 17. Bar17is free to slide throughhead B.

v An adjusting sleeve 18 of-su'bstanti'ally the Zsize and shape of handle element 11 is connectedto the outer end of head B and has a large :inn'er bore 18a provided with several internal heavy-threads 18?) adjacent the inner end1therof, said threads-engaging the threads ;17aof the'bar 17. The inner end of adjust- --ing"sleeve-1;8 isprovided'with a circumfer- -entia1"groove-'180,.the grooved portion being swivellyconnected with intu'rned retaining lea-rs. 19- at the-outer end ofhead B. Said ears are of such strength that head B may be posit-ively moved; 'away' from head A, but when 'hadB is moved in the opposite direction the .innerextremity of. adjusting sleeve 18' abuts A Operation In the drawing, the applicationof our device on several diflerent standard types of hub caps is illustrated. In Figs. 1 to 3 the wrench is shown applied to an external nut of a hub caphaving a relatively wide outer flange. Such hub caps at the present time are employed on several different automobiles such as the Chrysler and the Studebaker. The flanged portion of the hub cap as clearly shown inFig. 1, is accommodated by the-oppositely disposed recesses 20 in the heads A and B. The cooperating jaw elements 12 precisely: engage the octagonal nut disposed inwardly of the hub cap. The jaws are clamped or adjusted by holding the handle 11 of head A in one hand and turning the adjusting sleeve 18 in clockwise direction with the other hand, head B-sliding upon the shank orbar 17 which passes therethrough. The hub cap is I then turned by swinging the wrench grasped by handle 11 and adjusting sleeve 18.

It will be seen that adequate leverage is provided for removing large nuts which are tightly secured. In Fig. 1 it will be seen, that even though the nut of the hub cap is disposed inwardly of the flange and in close proximity to the spokes and other parts of the wheel, a mechanic may easily and quickly remove the hub cap and the handles of the instrument will be spaced a sufficient distance from the wheel, to permit easy manipulation of the wrench. I

Hexagonal nuts may be removed by employing. the hexagonal cooperating jaw ele- -ments 13 of the wrench in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6.

Several standard makes of automobiles, such as the Packard employ internal nuts at the outer extremity or flange of the hub cap. Here the device is employed, as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the cooperating expanding elements 15 being expanded by manipulating adjusting sleeve 18 to properly engage an internal nut. The wrench is then swung'to unscrew the hub cap from the wheel.

In Figs. 9 and 10, the application of the wrench on'still a different form of hub cap is shown. Some cars, such as the Whippet have a pair of spaced sockets or a slot in the outer face of the hub cap and in such case the cooperatingengagement pins 16 may be adjustwrench thenswung to remove the hub cap.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that we have provided a highly eflicient wrench comprising only four different parts which may be manufactured at low cost and which while especially adapted for removing and tightening most types of hub caps commercially used at this time, is capable of wide general use for removing and tightening internal or external nuts on various different devices. I

It will be noticed that the jaw heads are positively separated and moved together by the manipulation of the so-called adjusting sleeve 18, the cooperation of the heads, bars 17 and adjusting sleeve and the several cooperating jaw elements permits the wrench to be used for various contracting purposes and also expansion purposes. I

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of applicants invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A wrench comprising a pair of cooperating jaw heads, means for connecting said heads for movement together and apart, said heads rigidly carrying cooperating L-shaped jaw elements projecting laterally therefrom, the turned ends of said L-shaped elements extending inwardly and terminating in opposed angularly shaped gripping edges, said elements defining a large recess disposed inwardly of said extremities and between the inner ends of said jaw heads whereby an outwardly projecting enlargement of an object to be turned may be accommodated.

2. In a hub cap wrench, a pair of cooperating jaw-carrying heads. a bar extending longitudinally of said heads and connected therewith to permit relative movement between said heads, said heads rigidly carrying cooperating L-shaped jaw elements projecting laterally therefrom, the turned ends of said L-shaped elements extending inwardly for some distance and being off-set considerably from said bar and terminating in opposed V-shaped gripping surfaces for clamping the inwardly disposed nut of a hub cap. said elements defining a large recess disposed inwardly of said extremities and between said extremities and said bar whereby the enlarged outer flange of the hub cap may be accommodated.

3. A wrench comprising a pair of cooperating jaw-carrving heads, one of said heads having a handle rigidly connected with the outer end thereof. a bar rigidly connected with the inner end of said head and projecting therefrom axially of said handle portion, the other of said jaw-carrying heads being mounted for slidablervmovement on said bar and a movable handle member swivelly connected to the outer end of said second jaw carrying head and threadedly engaging the outtures.

WALTER A. BISHMAN. HAROLD G. LIEN. 

